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HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! I know it is already January 2, 2018, and I meant to do this post yesterday on New Year's Day but between a little bit of skiing (it was too cold), watching a bit of football (bowl games!), keeping the fire going, working on Pandemic, and having a great New Year's Dinner, the day melted away (lol as if that wasn't a full day!) This morning when I woke up here in New Hampshire it was 18 below zero actual temperature on the porch! So, I am going to make this post very short. It is mainly to wish everyone the best new year with health and happiness, and I promise not to say anything about our ridiculous health care system. But I wanted to send a quick pic of what I am working on, namely PANDEMIC. I remember in the past describing my methodology in doing my books, which included a large-sheet outline done in pencil. All my undergraduate training was in science, mostly chemistry, math, and physics so I feel best when I'm organized. I also personally believe a mystery/thriller novel has to be organized otherwise it isn't all that mysterious or thrilling. The outline is six pages of this tiny print (so I can get as much as possible on the page to keep it in front of me...there are even snippets of dialogue). Actually there is an additional seventh page, but it is only about 1/6 of a page outlining the epilogue. So there you have it, everyone. And I hope all your New Year's Resolutions, if you make them, incorporate some extra healthy attitudes like regular healthy food, regular exercise, and regular good night's sleep. If you are serious about all that like I am, it mostly makes up for our disastrous healthcare system. All the best, Robin Cook





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Hello everyone! As usual I have been remiss in posting while I have been busy working on my new book that is to be called PANDEMIC instead of CHIMERA. First I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate Christmas. I am again up in Waterville Valley New Hampshire and it is snowing like crazy outside and looks like a winter wonderland. As you all can see Primo again has been mesmerized by the snow. Tomorrow, hopefully, I will finish the outline for my new book and then get started with the actual writing. It is the outline that for me is the hardest part. The book is about the new gene editing technique called CRISPR/CAS9 that I am sure some of you have heard about. It is a method of altering genes in living cells that is relatively inexpensive and easy to use such that high school level biology knowledgeable people can do it. And it works amazingly well. Obviously as such it has peril as well as promise, and as a thriller writer, I am more concerned about the peril than I am about the promise. But that is not what I want to talk about with this post. What I want to talk about is Flu vaccination. I want to encourage everyone, unless they have an allergy to any of the vaccine components, to get a flu shot. I know there are some people who are conspiracy minded who might think this is not a good idea, but it is. Believe me! I always get a flu shot and got my quatra valent vaccine more than a month ago. As a physician I have seen what a good case of the flu can do. Somewhere around 40,000 people die each year from the flu! Most people have no idea of that. Even if the flu vaccine is not perfect match for whatever strain you become exposed to, it can seriously decrease the impact of the illness even if it doesn't prevent it. So that is my sincere recommendation for the holidays. Get your flu shot and encourage your loved ones and your friends to do the same. Warm wishes to everyone for health and happiness both of which take some effort and a bit of luck. All the best, Robin Cook





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Hi everyone. Here is a really short post. As soon as I stand up from my desk chair, look who quickly fills in for me! I wish I could teach Primo how to write so I could do the sleeping and he the writing. It is a bleak wintery day today, which actually makes it easier for me to stay at the desk.

This past week there have been two stories in the news, which I feel obligated to comment on. The first is that the Trump administration is thinking of reversing the progress that has been made in moving away from fee-for-service medicine, one of the prime instigators of the relentless rise in healthcare costs. The idea was to base payment more on outcome (meaning quality of care) than the mere provision of care irrespective of outcome. Under fee-for-service doctors and hospitals actually benefitted when a patient's condition worsened instead of improved. Fee-for-service has also been a prime cause of 'over utilization', encouraging healthcare providers to do more rather than less even in those circumstances less might be better for everyone. Obviously reverting to fee-for-service will not help bring down healthcare costs and the premiums required to support them. The other issue that has come up is that the Senate Republicans are adding a repeal of the healthcare insurance mandate in the 'supposed' tax reform bill. Those of you who read my previous healthcare posts will know that the mandate is one of the three provisions that make health insurance work. It is like a three legged stool. Take one away and the whole thing collapses. The other two are: (1) the acceptance of people with pre-exisiting health conditions and (2) government support for people of limited economic means to pay the premiums. The irony here is that the Senate Republicans are supposed to be acting in the general publics best interest.

That's it! Now you have to agreed this was short post for me. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Now I have to get back to plotting my next book after I push Primo out of my seat. All the best, Robin Cook





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Hello everyone! Time to take a little break from writing and do a ‘short� post on Facebook (and I promise it will be very short as I will avoid saying anything about our screwy USA healthcare system, which always gets me emotional). What I wanted to talk about today, since it is very much on my mind, is the role of ‘Voice Over� or VO in movies. I don’t believe I have brought this issue up before, but if I have, please humor me for being redundant. The problem is that it is very much on my mind as I have elected to use VO in the script for CHARLATANS after giving the issue a lot of thought. Now, I know that a lot of people think that using VO is a no-no somewhat akin to cheating, meaning if you as the writer can’t get the information out that needs to get out for your story by action and dialogue, which is basically what a movie is, then you should do something else for a living than writing screenplays. I understand the argument for this position, but I personally think that VO can play an important role, and I want to ask you guys, my readers, what your position is since I obviously care about your opinions (you are the people I am directing my efforts towards). Personally, I have enjoyed a number of terrific movies where I believe VO worked very well and is an important and integral part of the production. GOODFELLAS is a prime example, which I watched again recently. To my surprise the VO involves two of the characters although primarily the main character. When I had originally seen the movie, I hadn’t noticed such a situation and would have thought it wouldn’t work because I see VO as a movie version of a book written in the first person. Obviously, it worked just fine. Another movie that I have always liked with VO is STAND BY ME. My understanding that the VO in this masterpiece was added after the fact, meaning it wasn’t part of the original screenplay. Another movie with VO that is very effective is THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. Another classic is SUNSET BOULEVARD that wouldn’t be nearly as effective without its voice over. Now I know that there have also been a host of movies where the VO was, as critics of the technique point out, overused and an obvious ham-handed attempt to make the storyline make sense. Be that as it may, why do I think it should be used in CHARLATANS if I know that some people will not like it? The reason is that CHARLATANS is essentially a book written in the first person even though it isn’t!!! Now some people will think that last sentence is ridiculous as the book is clearly written in the third person, especially those scenes of the fake FBI guys doing their dirty work. Here’s my argument: except for those fake FBI guys and the very beginning of the prologue, the story unfolds from Noah’s perspective and no one else’s and therefore is equivalent to being written in the first person. And that is the way I see the movie unfold except for the initial sequence prior to the titles that will be the fake FBI guys certainly without Noah. The VO will not begin until after the movie titles and there will not be a lot of it but rather just enough so the audience is totally aware they are viewing the action from Noah’s point of view. So, there you have it. Presently VO is used in the screenplay, so what does everybody think? Is VO a good idea for CHARLATANS the movie? I hope rather than a mere yes or no, some people will explain why they think as they do. All the best, Robin Cook PS Primo says this wasn't what he calls a short post lol





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Hello everyone! Time to take a little break from writing and do a ‘short� post on Facebook (and I promise it will be very short as I will avoid saying anything about our screwy USA healthcare system, which always gets me emotional). What I wanted to talk about today, since it is very much on my mind, is the role of ‘Voice Over� or VO in movies. I don’t believe I have brought this issue up before, but if I have, please humor me for being redundant. The problem is that it is very much on my mind as I have elected to use VO in the script for CHARLATANS after giving the issue a lot of thought. Now, I know that a lot of people think that using VO is a no-no somewhat akin to cheating, meaning if you as the writer can’t get the information out that needs to get out for your story by action and dialogue, which is basically what a movie is, then you should do something else for a living than writing screenplays. I understand the argument for this position, but I personally think that VO can play an important role, and I want to ask you guys, my readers, what your position is since I obviously care about your opinions (you are the people I am directing my efforts towards). Personally, I have enjoyed a number of terrific movies where I believe VO worked very well and is an important and integral part of the production. GOODFELLAS is a prime example, which I watched again recently. To my surprise the VO involves two of the characters although primarily the main character. When I had originally seen the movie, I hadn’t noticed such a situation and would have thought it wouldn’t work because I see VO as a movie version of a book written in the first person. Obviously, it worked just fine. Another movie that I have always liked with VO is STAND BY ME. My understanding that the VO in this masterpiece was added after the fact, meaning it wasn’t part of the original screenplay. Another movie with VO that is very effective is THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. Another classic is SUNSET BOULEVARD that wouldn’t be nearly as effective without its voice over. Now I know that there have also been a host of movies where the VO was, as critics of the technique point out, overused and an obvious ham-handed attempt to make the storyline make sense. Be that as it may, why do I think it should be used in CHARLATANS if I know that some people will not like it? The reason is that CHARLATANS is essentially a book written in the first person even though it isn’t!!! Now some people will think that last sentence is ridiculous as the book is clearly written in the third person, especially those scenes of the fake FBI guys doing their dirty work. Here’s my argument: except for those fake FBI guys and the very beginning of the prologue, the story unfolds from Noah’s perspective and no one else’s and therefore is equivalent to being written in the first person. And that is the way I see the movie unfold except for the initial sequence prior to the titles that will be the fake FBI guys certainly without Noah. The VO will not begin until after the movie titles and there will not be a lot of it but rather just enough so the audience is totally aware they are viewing the action from Noah’s point of view. So, there you have it. Presently VO is used in the screenplay, so what does everybody think? Is VO a good idea for CHARLATANS the movie? I hope rather than a mere yes or no, some people will explain why they think as they do. All the best, Robin Cook PS Primo says this wasn't what he calls a short post lol





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Hello everyone! Time to take a little break from writing and do a ‘short� post on Facebook (and I promise it will be very short as I will avoid saying anything about our screwy USA healthcare system, which always gets me emotional). What I wanted to talk about today, since it is very much on my mind, is the role of ‘Voice Over� or VO in movies. I don’t believe I have brought this issue up before, but if I have, please humor me for being redundant. The problem is that it is very much on my mind as I have elected to use VO in the script for CHARLATANS after giving the issue a lot of thought. Now, I know that a lot of people think that using VO is a no-no somewhat akin to cheating, meaning if you as the writer can’t get the information out that needs to get out for your story by action and dialogue, which is basically what a movie is, then you should do something else for a living than writing screenplays. I understand the argument for this position, but I personally think that VO can play an important role, and I want to ask you guys, my readers, what your position is since I obviously care about your opinions (you are the people I am directing my efforts towards). Personally, I have enjoyed a number of terrific movies where I believe VO worked very well and is an important and integral part of the production. GOODFELLAS is a prime example, which I watched again recently. To my surprise the VO involves two of the characters although primarily the main character. When I had originally seen the movie, I hadn’t noticed such a situation and would have thought it wouldn’t work because I see VO as a movie version of a book written in the first person. Obviously, it worked just fine. Another movie that I have always liked with VO is STAND BY ME. My understanding that the VO in this masterpiece was added after the fact, meaning it wasn’t part of the original screenplay. Another movie with VO that is very effective is THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. Another classic is SUNSET BOULEVARD that wouldn’t be nearly as effective without its voice over. Now I know that there have also been a host of movies where the VO was, as critics of the technique point out, overused and an obvious ham-handed attempt to make the storyline make sense. Be that as it may, why do I think it should be used in CHARLATANS if I know that some people will not like it? The reason is that CHARLATANS is essentially a book written in the first person even though it isn’t!!! Now some people will think that last sentence is ridiculous as the book is clearly written in the third person, especially those scenes of the fake FBI guys doing their dirty work. Here’s my argument: except for those fake FBI guys and the very beginning of the prologue, the story unfolds from Noah’s perspective and no one else’s and therefore is equivalent to being written in the first person. And that is the way I see the movie unfold except for the initial sequence prior to the titles that will be the fake FBI guys certainly without Noah. The VO will not begin until after the movie titles and there will not be a lot of it but rather just enough so the audience is totally aware they are viewing the action from Noah’s point of view. So, there you have it. Presently VO is used in the screenplay, so what does everybody think? Is VO a good idea for CHARLATANS the movie? I hope rather than a mere yes or no, some people will explain why they think as they do. All the best, Robin Cook PS Primo says this wasn't what he calls a short post lol





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Hello everyone! As usual I must begin with an apology for allowing so much time to pass since my last post, especially when so much is happening involving healthcare. My only excuse is that I have been busy giving a lot of thought to Charlatans the Movie. I have included a pic of how much Primo is impressed with my work by parking his butt on it (laugh out loud). As I said in a previous post, the hardest part about writing a screenplay from a novel is deciding what to discard and what to keep because if a movie was made of Charlatans like the book it would probably be about 6 hours long, which is 4 hours to much. But I think tonight I finally figured it all out. We’ll see. Of course, I have also been working on my next book, which, by the way, is not going to be called CHIMERA but rather PANDEMIC. I hope this change doesn’t bother those of you who thought CHIMERA was an okay title. But the story is going to be about the beginnings of a PANDEMIC so it is a very appropriate title, and the word is a bit more recognizable to most people. The word ‘chimera� is not part of everyone’s everyday lexicon lol, whereas ‘pandemic� is. Of course, in the story the pandemic is going to be caused by a chimera, so chimera is not unreasonable as a title just a bit esoteric. I welcome any comments about this titling issue, but my publishers were adamant on both sides of the Atlantic when I presented the two ideas. As I have mentioned in an earlier post, Laurie and Jack will be back in PANDEMIC with some significant changes in their lives since their last appearance in the book CURE. There will be another child in their household, and Laurie will have moved to the front office of the OCME (Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for NYC) to take over Bingham’s job. Accordingly, among her other responsibilities, she will have the unenviable task of trying to keep Jack from flouting the rules as he investigates cases. Part of my research has been to reread CURE, INTERVENTION, and CRITICAL because they are books staring my favorite couple. Now this may sound self-promoting, but I had a lot more fun reading them than I expected. I also enjoyed remembering the research that I did for all three books. For those people who don’t know, I do a lot of research for each book, and I do it all myself. I don’t hire research assistants because doing the research is the most fun part of writing a book. Maybe even the only fun part lol because writing is hard work. With both CURE and INTERVENTION I took some fascinating trips. For CURE I went to Japan with particular interest in Kyoto, which is where the book starts. For INTERVENTION it was back to Rome to revisit the archeological dig beneath Saint Peters and to Israel where the book ends. I didn’t need to travel for CRITICAL as it all takes place in NYC, but I remember I had to do a lot of research on business. After finishing the book I was impressed with how much CRITICAL says about how business interests have undermined medicine’s role in our society. Now before I sign off I must say a few words about our President’s misguided directive to allow health insurance companies to sell watered-down health insurance plans. For those of you who have read my healthcare posts in the past will immediately understand why this is a bad idea. Yes, these watered-down plans will have lower premiums, but if the person who buys them gets sick, these watered-down plans will provide very limited coverage. The problem is that our health insurance companies are ‘for profit� enterprises, meaning that their role is to make money for their investors. Providing healthcare is not part of their concern so their behavior must be regulated to some degree. In every industrialized country that uses private health insurance companies the industry is regulated to some appropriate degree. One of the benefits of the ACA or Obamacare is that poor policies were not allowed and profits were limited. In Trump’s own words, his newest healthcare directive is ‘fake� progress.





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Hello everyone! As usual I must begin with an apology for allowing so much time to pass since my last post, especially when so much is happening involving healthcare. My only excuse is that I have been busy giving a lot of thought to Charlatans the Movie. I have included a pic of how much Primo is impressed with my work by parking his butt on it (laugh out loud). As I said in a previous post, the hardest part about writing a screenplay from a novel is deciding what to discard and what to keep because if a movie was made of Charlatans like the book it would probably be about 6 hours long, which is 4 hours to much. But I think tonight I finally figured it all out. We’ll see. Of course, I have also been working on my next book, which, by the way, is not going to be called CHIMERA but rather PANDEMIC. I hope this change doesn’t bother those of you who thought CHIMERA was an okay title. But the story is going to be about the beginnings of a PANDEMIC so it is a very appropriate title, and the word is a bit more recognizable to most people. The word ‘chimera� is not part of everyone’s everyday lexicon lol, whereas ‘pandemic� is. Of course, in the story the pandemic is going to be caused by a chimera, so chimera is not unreasonable as a title just a bit esoteric. I welcome any comments about this titling issue, but my publishers were adamant on both sides of the Atlantic when I presented the two ideas. As I have mentioned in an earlier post, Laurie and Jack will be back in PANDEMIC with some significant changes in their lives since their last appearance in the book CURE. There will be another child in their household, and Laurie will have moved to the front office of the OCME (Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for NYC) to take over Bingham’s job. Accordingly, among her other responsibilities, she will have the unenviable task of trying to keep Jack from flouting the rules as he investigates cases. Part of my research has been to reread CURE, INTERVENTION, and CRITICAL because they are books staring my favorite couple. Now this may sound self-promoting, but I had a lot more fun reading them than I expected. I also enjoyed remembering the research that I did for all three books. For those people who don’t know, I do a lot of research for each book, and I do it all myself. I don’t hire research assistants because doing the research is the most fun part of writing a book. Maybe even the only fun part lol because writing is hard work. With both CURE and INTERVENTION I took some fascinating trips. For CURE I went to Japan with particular interest in Kyoto, which is where the book starts. For INTERVENTION it was back to Rome to revisit the archeological dig beneath Saint Peters and to Israel where the book ends. I didn’t need to travel for CRITICAL as it all takes place in NYC, but I remember I had to do a lot of research on business. After finishing the book I was impressed with how much CRITICAL says about how business interests have undermined medicine’s role in our society. Now before I sign off I must say a few words about our President’s misguided directive to allow health insurance companies to sell watered-down health insurance plans. For those of you who have read my healthcare posts in the past will immediately understand why this is a bad idea. Yes, these watered-down plans will have lower premiums, but if the person who buys them gets sick, these watered-down plans will provide very limited coverage. The problem is that our health insurance companies are ‘for profit� enterprises, meaning that their role is to make money for their investors. Providing healthcare is not part of their concern so their behavior must be regulated to some degree. In every industrialized country that uses private health insurance companies the industry is regulated to some appropriate degree. One of the benefits of the ACA or Obamacare is that poor policies were not allowed and profits were limited. In Trump’s own words, his newest healthcare directive is ‘fake� progress.





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Hello everyone. Time for another post! I promise to make this one truly short (at least short for me lol) First I’d like to personally thank all those people who have taken the time to comment about CHARLATANS. It has been so encouraging for me to read them as I start work on my next book. Of course I have to say that I also appreciate hearing so many positive responses. As I have said in previous posts, there is always the concern that your readers are not going to like what you have done even though your goal is to capture and keep their interest and make reading fun, enlightening, and thought provoking. As I have said in the past, I started to write medical thrillers to make people aware of problems associated with the medical-industrial complex, and I continue to do so. Knowing that the system doesn’t always have the best interests of patients at the forefront is the first step in protecting one’s self and one’s family. It is also hopefully the first step in changing the system to be better. We all have a responsibility to let our representatives in congress know how we think. That is central to the democratic process. Unfortunately for most people it is difficult to know what is going on inside our hospitals and doctors� offices, ergo my medical thrillers. A good example is my book INTERVENTION, which I recently quickly reread for research since it was the last book that Jack Stapleton was the main character as he will be back in the book I am working on now. Reading INTERVENTION certainly opens ones� eyes to the ‘alternative medicine� issue, which is an important issue. Unfortunately many too many people fall into the hands of a ‘side� industry that is a waste of money, time, and even can be dangerous. As an aside, I also recently reread CURE because that is the last time Laurie Montgomery was the main character, and obviously she too will be in this new book. That book was about the behind the scenes patent battles involving the lucrative, emerging stem cell industry. That alternative medicine industry is a burgeoning problem that probably warrants another book because there are far too many bogus stem cell treatments out there putting patients at risk like I portrayed in my book SEIZURE. Interesting enough, the patent fights over CRISPR(CAS9), which is what my new book is about, are even worse than those involving stem cells.

With this post, I am going to include some links to articles that those of you who have read CHARLATANS might find interesting. I’m also going to include the FACEBOOK profile page of Gail Shafter, which I think might bring a smile to the faces of those of you who have read CHARLATANS, as it lends a fun but charlatan-like authenticity to the CHARLATANS� storyline!

As a final point I wanted to say a few words in reference to my last post where I talked about the challenges of going from a book to a movie as I am struggling with it in relation to the CHARLATANS screenplay. Now many of you probably have your own preferences as to cases where the transition has worked well and you liked the movie as well as the book or even better, although most often people feel the book is better as it depended on ones� own imagination rather than the movie director’s or screen writer’s. It is easy to google ‘best book to movie adaptions� which will include the usual like THE GODFATHER, GONE WITH THE WIND, STAND BY ME (actually adapted from a Steven King short story), GOODFELLAS (book was WISE GUY), and the Harry Potter books to name a few. But I want to introduce you to one that you will not find on these ‘google-able� lists. And that is the movie THE AFRICAN QUEEN with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. It is an old black and white movie, of course, but I loved it and didn’t even know it was also a book by C.S. Forester until I ran across the book in the room of a Bed And Breakfast. Just for fun, I read the book and also loved it so much that I went back and watched the movie again. After loving the movie just as much for the second time, I went back and reread the book and liked that just as much also. In other words it is the only time I haven’t been able to decide which one is better! So…I challenge you people to give THE AFRICAN QUEEN a try or tell the rest of us in a comment if there is another book-movie combination that you cannot decide which is better.

So that’s it…I confess the post is not as short as I intended, but as I explained before, I am a novelist or I am trying to be a novelist lol All the best to every one, Robin Cook

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